Oracle Arena

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This article is about the arena formerly known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. For the neighboring baseball park and football stadium with a similar name, see Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.

Oracle Arena is an indoor arena located in Oakland, California, United States, and is the home of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The arena opened in 1966 and is the oldest arena in the NBA. From its opening until 1996 it was known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. After a major renovation completed in 1997, the arena was renamed The Arena in Oakland until 2005 and Oakland Arena from 2005 to 2006. It is often referred to as the Oakland Coliseum Arena as it is located adjacent to the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. Oracle Arena seats 19,596 fans for basketball and 17,200 for ice hockey.

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Contents

History

Home franchises

The arena has been the home of the Golden State Warriors[2] since the 1971–72 season, except the one-year hiatus while the arena was undergoing renovations. It had been used by the Warriors intermittently as early as 1966. The California Golden Bears of the Pac-10 played the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons at the arena while their primary home, Harmon Gym, was being renovated into Haas Pavilion. For some years before then, the Bears played occasional games against popular non-conference opponents at the arena.

Oracle Arena has been home to Warriors playoff games in 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.[3] It hosted the 2015, 2016, 2017, and the 2018 NBA Finals, where the Warriors won in 2015, 2017, and 2018. The 2015 victory was the first time since 1975 the Warriors won the title; however, Games 2 and 3 of the 1975 NBA Finals were played in the Cow Palace as the Coliseum was unavailable. The 2017 victory was the first time that a San Francisco Bay Area team won a title in their home venue since the Oakland Athletics in the 1974 World Series.

The arena's first tenants were the California Seals of the Western Hockey League, who moved across the bay from the Cow Palace in 1966. The owners of the San Francisco Seals had been awarded an expansion franchise in the National Hockey League on the condition they move out the Cow Palace and into the then-new Oakland Coliseum Arena. The team changed its operating name from San Francisco Seals to California Seals in order to draw fans from both San Francisco and Oakland. The Seals franchise continued to play at the arena after having transferred to the NHL, until the team moved to Cleveland after the 1975–76 NHL season.[4]

Renovation

Over three decades, the arena grew outdated, lacking the luxuries of newer ones. With just over 15,000 seats, it was one of the smallest venues in the league. Rather than building a new arena in Oakland, San Francisco or San Jose, the decision was made to proceed with a US$121 million renovation that involved tearing out much of interior and building a new seating bowl within the existing structure. The original walls, roof and foundation remained intact, similar to the rebuild of KeyArena in Seattle. The renovation began in mid-1996 and was completed in time for the Warriors return in the fall of 1997 (they played the previous season at the San Jose Arena, home of the NHL's Sharks). Included in the renovation was a new center overhead LED scoreboard and 360-degree fascia display. The new configuration seats 19,596 for basketball and 17,200 for ice hockey.

The Oracle

On October 20, 2006, the Golden State Warriors and Oracle Corporation announced that the Oakland Arena would be known as The Oracle for a 10-year term. A press conference was held on October 30.[6] "The O", as it is referred to, continued to be managed by Oakland–Alameda County Authority (JPA) and SMG. The JPA approved the deal at its November 10 meeting.[7]

Oracle Arena has, at least since 2013, been one of the loudest arenas in the NBA. It is called "Roaracle" because of the painfully high decibel levels sometimes generated at Warriors games. The Warriors will play their final regular season home game on April 7, 2019 against the Los Angeles Clippers (pending any playoff games if they qualify, which they may), and the team's lease is set to expire by the end of June 2019.[8]

Attendance records

A record-breaking crowd watching the Warriors in the 2007 NBA Playoffs.

On May 13, 2007, 20,679 fans watched the Warriors lose to the Utah Jazz 115–101 in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals. This was the highest attendance in the Warriors' 61-year history.

That record lasted until December 14, 2007, when the Warriors hosted the Los Angeles Lakers and packed 20,705 into the Arena to set a new franchise attendance record.

The record was again broken on February 20, 2008, when the arena hosted 20,711 for the Warriors-Celtics game.[9]

This record was set yet again on April 10, 2008, when Oracle Arena hosted 20,737 fans in a Warriors loss to the Denver Nuggets.[10]

By the end of the 2016–17 regular season, Oracle had sold out 230 consecutive home games, a streak that continued throughout the team's playoff run. Oracle drew over 18,000 people per game for 12 straight seasons.[11]

The Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead played more concerts (66) at this venue than at any other,[12][13] and their December 16, 1992 concert at the arena was released as Dick's Picks Volume 27, along with bonus tracks from their December 17, 1992 concert at the arena.

Future

Early in 2013, the Warriors announced they would build a new arena in San Francisco and move back to the city.[14] It was originally suggested that the arena would be built on the decaying sites of Piers 30–32 near the foot of the Bay Bridge,[14] but the plan was met with opposition due to concerns about traffic, environmental impacts and obstruction of views.[15] In April 2014, the Warriors purchased 12-acres in Mission Bay as the site for a new 18,000-seat arena planned to open for the 2018–19 NBA season.[16] The new location eliminated the need for voter approval, which would have been required for the original site, though it had been unanimously approved by the San Francisco Supervisors in November 2012.[17] Because of delays due to litigation filed by arena opponents it is now planned to open at the start of the 2019–20 NBA season.[18] The new arena will be named the Chase Center.[19]

Seating capacity

An interior view of Oracle Arena.

The seating capacity for basketball has expanded from 13 to 19 thousand in over a half-century of use:[20]